Reading: THE HAUNTED LIBRARY #1 - Dori Hillestad Butler (author), Aurore Damant (illustrator)

Prose (Story): Kaz is a young ghost boy separated from the rest of his ghost family when their haunt is torn down without warning, the winds outside literally scattering the family members in various directions. Alone and terrified, the timid little ghost finally ends up at a small-town library, where he meets a young living/human girl named Claire, who can ... see him, when no one else can! Claire and her grandma (who runs the library) live in the apartment above, and Claire has been able to see ghosts for ages - even has issues with the ghost of an older gentleman in a top hat who resides in the library, ignoring her at every turn - but when yet a third ghost seems to be causing trouble, scaring library patrons, Claire and Kaz team up to solve the mystery of the vanishing ghost, all while Claire also tries to figure out how best to help Kaz find his family again.

Don's (Review): The first in the lengthy chapter book series by Edgar award-winning author Dori Hillestad Butler has the author setting up some new/original "rules" for the spirit realm; here, ghosts fear the outdoors because a strong breeze can scatter them anywhere out of their control, and can also choose whether or not they want to be seen by humans (Claire being the exception) - choosing to remain invisible if they like. Kaz is set up as a kind, introverted ghost boy for readers to have immediate empathy for; the poor kid hasn't even learned how to pass safely through walls and other solid objects yet, and his loneliness at being separated from his family sets up things up nicely for developing a solid friendship with Claire. The twosome make a good mystery-solving duo as well, so much so that by the end of book one it felt like moving onto book two was a no-brainer. Aurore Damant's illustrations only add to the cartoon-y fun, and at ten books now I see no problem working my way through the whole series; Claire, her grandma, and especially Kaz are way-cool.  4/5 stars